Genetic testing company 23andMe's bankruptcy has led to a new consumer privacy issue: what happens to the DNA of millions of Americans when it goes on sale?

Most companies are continuing related work, but shifting the language.

Theres a Kraft Heinz commercial running in Canada right now that is a perfect embodiment of the geopolitical moment between the U.S. and its northern neighbor.In it, the brand is celebrating its Canadian workers, and highlighting all the Canadian ingredients in its products like peanut butter, cheese, and Kraft Dinner.For context, in case you dont read the news: Since the election, President Trump has not only threatened and implemented trade tariffs on Canadian goods, but has added insult to injury by suggesting Americas longtime ally become its 51st state. This has not gone over well in Canada for obvious reasons.Thats why an American conglomerate like Kraft Heinz feels the need to clarify a few things. Sure, the cream cheese might be called Philadelphia, but ITS MADE IN MONTREAL with CANADIAN DAIRY, WE SWEAR. As a Canadian, it feels to me like the brand equivalent of my American friends turning to me during every commercial break of a hockey game to assure me they dont actually want to annex my country.Canadian to the coreOf course, its not only American companies creating ads to hype how deep their Canadian connections are. This moment has given Canadian brands a chance to really fly their maple leaf flags to make sure we all know whos really from here.Thats important because Canadians buy more American-made goods than the U.K., France, Japan, and China combined. Yet a recent KPMG study found that 70% of Canadians would boycott U.S. products if President Trump implemented his 25% tariffs, while 80% are actively seeking non-U.S. alternatives when Canadian options arent available.The threats and tensions arent just theoretical: The Globe & Mail reported this week that cross-border travel is falling sharply: Statistics Canada reported that Canadians made 1.2 million fewer round-trip visits to the U.S. last month, which is 23% less than February 2024. Meanwhile, hotels in Maine are reporting a major drop in summer bookings, some as much as 90%.Peter Chapman, founder of consulting firm SKUFood and a former executive with Canadian grocery giant Loblaw, told The Canadian Press, Its by far the most dramatic and swiftest shift Ive seen in consumer behavior.Ian Westworth, Grey Canadas head of planning and effectiveness, wrote in Campaign recently that this shift in consumer behavior presents a significant opportunity for Canadian brands to align with this cultural moment and tap into a groundswell of national pride. This is an opportunity to build not just short-term momentum but also enduring consumer relationships, said Westworth.Halifax-based Moosehead Breweries is facing tariff impacts across its packaging supply chain, but managed to keep its sense of humor, creating a Presidential Pack of 1,461 beersone beer for every day of the next four years. Its sold at least 10 of the $3,400 packs so far, and now has a waiting list. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Moosehead Breweries (@moosehead)Everyone up here, from the Prime Minister to Mike Myers, has been using the Elbows up mantra (its a hockey thing). And now brands from both countries have been forced to reconcile what that actually means for them.Flying the flagThis isnt the first time a brand has aimed at the under-tapped resource that is Canadian national pride. Back in 2000, Molson Canadian created a spot called The Rant that featured a guy named Joe proudly dispelling what amounts to American stereotypes of Canada.Cheesy, sure, but it struck a very strong nerve. As loathe as we are to admit it, a sizable proportion of the Canadian identity is tied to all the various ways we arent American. Were often a nation stuck between the influences of a colonial past (Britain and France), and a pop culture present (America). Part of our contemporary identity is finding ways to move beyond this binary. Marvel star, and Toronto native, Simu Liu leaned into our unique brand of multiculturalism when he hosted the 2022 Juno awards (Canadas Grammys) and re-created his own rant: I grew up on ketchup chips, roti, and Jamaican beef patties . . . Thats about as Toronto as you can get.Like any emphasis on buying local, or touting Made in the USA stateside, brands have long used their connection to Canada as a marketing device here. But this time its different. It feels like all at once, every marketer in Canada is a maple-syrup-swigging, hockey-loving hoser.Some are doing it by adding phrases like Proudly Canadian or Canadian Made to their labels. Others are creating full ad campaigns. Maple Leaf Foods recently launched a partnership with other Canadian brands urging people to look for the leaf on grocery products. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maple Leaf Foods (@mapleleaffoods)Grocery giant Loblaws has created a black T label to highlight products impacted by the new American tariffs.Retailer Canadian Tire dropped a spot to reiterate its roots, while using harsh winds as a nod to the current political and economic climate.The Canadian Forces even has a spot that could weirdly double as a tourism ad, encouraging Canadians to be maple-leaf buying, local adventuring in their spending habits.Graham Candy, chief strategy officer at Toronto-based ad agency Angry Butterfly, is expecting to see more marketers join the chorus. We feel like this is just the beginning of what we are going to see out there from a political and marketing comms perspective, says Candy. We expect to see bolder messages, more pride, potentially more anger and stronger Us versus Them messaging.Personally, Im just waiting for Nestl to finally announce a brand partnership with Shoresy for its Canadian-made Drumsticks ice cream treat.Same rules applyFor some marketers, wrapping their brands in the flag may work perfectly well. For others, its a mistake.In so many ways, the current situation between Canada and the U.S. is unprecedented. But the solution for marketers is actually still rooted in the best practices of a modern brand: know what your core values are and use that as the lens through which you communicate with your audience.Plenty of brands in Canada will jump on this patriotic bandwagon, but the ones who find success will be those who have built their Canuck credentials over time. Just as brands that decide to aim attention at a particular cultural nichewhether anime fans, surfers, or Swiftiestheir actions need to be true to who they are or else the brand will be called out and, ultimately, unsuccessful in reaching that audience.American and international companies that have built the strongest brand connections to their Canadian consumers will ultimately weather the tariff storm, and it wont be because of some haphazard flag-waving.That said, Diageo should probably start re-airing its 2023 Crown Royal Super Bowl ad immediately.

A powerful law firms acquiescence to President Donald Trump has sent shockwaves through the legal community, prompted prominent lawyers and former associates to deride the firm, and astounded even its harshest critics.In response to an executive order from the White House targeting Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the firms chair, Brad Karp, cut a deal with Trump to provide $40 million in free legal support and conduct an audit of the firms DEI employment and hiring protocols. Following the deal, Trump reversed his order, which would have stripped Paul Weiss of its security clearance, terminated its federal contracts, and limited its attorneys access to federal buildings. A day after announcing the agreement with Paul Weiss, the White Housedirected federal law enforcementto punish other lawyers whochallenge Trumps initiativesin court.Until last week, Paul Weiss was best known for its pro bono work for liberal causes, fundraising for Democrats, and standing up to Trump during his first term. Trumpsorderessentially took revenge on the firm for bringing a pro bono lawsuit against January 6 Capitol rioters and for its ties to Mark Pomerantz, the attorney who pursued criminal charges against Trump in the Manhattan District Attorneys office.But the prestigious global firmwhich represents ExxonMobil against lawsuits claiming the oil giant deceived the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuelsalso has a history of defending corporate giants accused of harming the public.As David Moore at Sludgereported, Paul Weiss has worked to defend a range of corporate clients from liability. The firm led legal defense for the Sackler family against lawsuits for their role in the nations opioid crisis. It fought the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of tobacco giant Phillip Morris when it was sued for covering up and undermining the link between smoking and cancer. Its recent work has included successfully defending Amazon executives against antitrust claims and shielding JP Morgan Chase and its directors from allegations involving Jeffrey Epsteins criminal activity.Today, Paul Weiss serves as Exxons lead representation in climate deception cases brought against the oil giant by state and local governments. The company is often represented in court by Kannon Shanmugam, a top litigator at the firm who led preparations for a legal challenge against Trump in case Paul Weiss couldnt make a deal with the president, The New York Timesreported.The firm had a choice to fight backinstead, theyve chosen to give in, which suggests that they think their profits are better served by being in Trumps pocket than by appearing objective, said Haley Czarnek, national director of programs and operations at Law Students for Climate Accountability, a group that advocates for the legal industry to reckon with its role in the climate crisis.In itslatest climate scorecard, Czarneks group calculated that Paul Weisswhich scored an F grade for its work involving climate changetopped all other Vault 100 firms in the number of cases in which it represented fossil fuel companies between 2019 and 2023.Still, Czarnek said she was shocked by the deal Paul Weiss made with Trump. To completely and totally capitulate to the whims of a political figure and to turn themselves into another arm of the administration is obscene, she said.Law Students for Climate Accountability was founded as a result of law student protests atHarvard,Yale,NYU, andthe University of Michiganin 2020 urging Paul Weiss to drop Exxon as a client. The group wants to send the message that firms cannot be neutral when it comes to the climate, because fossil fuel corporations have big money to throw around and the communities harmed by the climate crisis do not, said Czarnek. (Oil interests donatedmore than $75 millionto Trumps presidential campaign.)At the time those protests began, the firm had just defeated a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general accusing Exxon of misleading investors about the risks of climate change to its business. While arguing to dismiss that case, Paul Weiss attorneyscited a meeting memothat federal prosecutors say was illegally obtained in a hacking-for-hire scheme targeted at supporters of the lawsuits, which hassince been linked back to Exxonby a middleman who pleaded guilty to participating in the hacking.The firm also defended Exxon against a lawsuit brought by Indonesian villagers who said soldiers the company hired to guard its natural gas facility committed murder and torture. The casewas settledin 2023, after a former Paul Weiss attorney representing Exxon was admonished by a judge forlitigation misconductthat later cost her a job at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Paul Weiss helped offset that controversial work with its large pro bono practice,touting itsunwavering commitment to providing pro bono legal assistance to the most vulnerable members of our society and in support of the public interest. Now part of that practice will be dedicated to issues championed by Trumpthough the firms chairman, Karp,promisedits staff that the president would not be dictating which of those issues the firm chose.It makes really transparent what pro bono has always been aboutwhich is doing good work for the firm, not for the public, said Czarnek, who said that firms will typically only take on pro bono work that doesnt conflict with the interests of their corporate clients. The pro bono arm of any firm is a PR operation that exists to bolster the reputation of the firm, she said.Another law firm for major fossil fuel companies, Gibson Dunn, has used pro bono work in a similar way. During the first Trump administration, Gibson Dunn partner Ted Boutrous, who regularly argues on behalf of Chevron,offeredfree representation to those targeted by the president in violation of the First Amendmentand the firm represented CNN journalist Jim Acostawho had his press pass to the White House revokedamong others.Gibson Dunn represents Chevron against climate deception lawsuits, and just won a nearly $670 millionverdictfor Energy Transfer in its lawsuit against Greenpeace for assisting protests against the Dakota Access Pipelineone of several casesthe firm has pursued that legal experts say are intended to chill the free speech of its clients opponents.The scales may continue to tip against communities and advocates also targeted by the Trump administration, whosay theyve been unable to obtain legal representationas law firms fearing retribution yield to Trumps threats. But Exxon, at least, will still have its lawyers.This piece was originally published onExxonKnews, a project with the Center for Climate Integrity.

The White Textured Ceramic Bowl and Greenery Set is a timeless yet modern accent piece. It is inspired by the whitewashed elegance of Santorini, especially with its subtly textured surface. This ceramic bowl can easily form a centerpiece for your coffee table, dining table, or countertop.Included in this set is six ultra-realistic moss balls, which bring a refreshing pop of natural green without the upkeep. You can style it in a minimalist modern home, a cozy farmhouse kitchen, or a luxurious contemporary space. Thats how versatile this bowl is!If you like to switch things up, you can swap out the moss for other items you love. For example, decorative beads, seasonal ornaments, or even wooden chain links. Its as stylish as you make it.This bowl is made of high-quality ceramic, and can be found in white and black finishes (both relatively matte). It has a rustic, imperfect finish, adding a unique and incredibly luxurious touch to your interior.Beyond its aesthetic appeal, this piece is designed for convenience. Theres no watering, no fading, and its so easy to clean. It arrives beautifully packaged, and also makes for an impressive housewarming or wedding gift.Available now on Amazon.

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MacworldApple offers pretty good prices on the standard configurations of its Macs. $599 for a M4 Mac mini? $999 for a new M4 MacBook Air? $1,299 for a new M4 iMac? Those are attractively priced. But those prices involve a few sacrifices, most notably the starting storage of just 256GB. A quarter of a terabyte might sound like a lot, but much of what we do on the Mac involves large fileshigh-resolution pictures, videos, games (literally the biggest culprit), and a lot more. 256GB runs out quickly.Apple does give customers the option to upgrade storage at the point of purchase, of course, but their prices are steep. Upgrading from 256GB to 512GB (the minimum amount we recommend) is an extra $200/200, and jumping to a terabyte is another $200, turning an attractive entry-level offering into a pricey one.But if you dont want to plunk down the extra money, you can still expand your Macs storage without paying Apples exorbitant prices. The alternatives here are mostly external storage solutionsin other words, youll need to carry and plug in an extra devicebut the compromise can help you meet your budget.External SSDs and hard drivesFoundryProsBest price/capacity ratioLarge range of capacities availableConsOne more thing to carry or clutter your deskFaster performance usually means higher pricesAn external storage device offers the best combination of price and capacity. For example, you can get a 1TB LaCie Mobile Drive for about $80/56 on Amazon that connects to your Mac via USB-C. LaCie sells that same drive with 5TB of storage for less than $170/115still lower than the upgrade to 512GB of internal storage on a Mac.With external drives, you can opt for a hard drive or a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs (which are used internally on the Mac) are faster and higher-priced than hard drives. You can also choose between desktop drives that have a larger design and require you to plug it into a power outlet, or portable drives that are small enough to fit in a bag or pocket and are powered through the Macs Thunderbolt or USB port.External drives use either USB-C or Thunderbolt to connect to the Mac. Thunderbolt drives are more expensive but faster, while cheaper USB-C-only drives often support slower data transfer rates. Learn more about the differences between Thunderbolt and USB.Macworld has guides to the best external SSDs and the best external hard drives to help you find the best device for you.USB flash drivesUnsplashProsSmall and portableCheapConsDurability issuesAwkwardly protrudes from the USB portOften called thumb drives or memory sticks, a USB flash drive is essentially a stick of flash memory that plugs into a USB port. Theyre small and easy to stash in a bag or pocket. They are available in capacities as high as 2TB, but 128GB and 256GB capacities are most commonly found, often for less than $30, such as this Samsung flash drive.USB flash drives vary in price based on capacity and speed. Some have additional features such as a USB-A plug on one end and a USB-C plug on the other, or built-in encryption.You can leave a USB flash drive plugged in, but if you are going to frequently read and write to the drive, youll want to opt for a portable or desktop drive instead. USB flash drives are more prone to wearing out than a full-fledged drive because flash memory has limited durability and USB flash drives dont have the measures in place to maintain proper health. Also, they tend to use lower-quality parts so they can be cheap and treated as commodities (for example, the corner near my home sells USB flash drives).While you dont want to rely on USB flash drives are primary storage, theyre handy for, say, storing photos or videos from a shoot, file management when you want to keep files for a project separate from everything else, backups, and more.SD cardsDenise Jans/UnsplashProsSmallAffordableConsRequires a Mac with an SDXC card slot or a separate USB card readerDurability issuesSDXC cards are memory cards often used in cameras and other portable devices, but you can also use them on the Mac. Only two Macs (MacBook Pro and Mac Studio) have built-in SDXC Card slots, however. For every other Mac, you must buy an SD Card adapter, which is inexpensive at about $10/10. You can also find hubs and Thunderbolt docks with card slots if you plan to buy one anyway. SDXC cards are good for uses similar to USB flash drives: file transfers, specifically storing files for projects, backups, and more. They have similar issues regarding the memory chips wearing out; they are more reliable because they use higher-quality memory, but they arent ideal as a drive that is always connected, and you are frequently reading and writing files to.If you plan to use an SDXC card as a method of transferring files between Macs or other devices, consider buying another card as a backup. Ive had instances where the metal contacts for the card get worn out or damaged from frequent insertions into devices. These cards did have several years of mileage on them but understand that theyre delicate relative to other storage devices mentioned here.Cards are available in capacities between 32GB and 2TB and are available at different speeds. The higher capacity/faster cards can be more expensive than an external SSD drive of the same capacity, as youre paying a premium for the extremely small size.Network-attached storageBilly Freeman/UnsplashProsConveniently accessible storage for many devicesConsSpeeds restricted by the networkSetup isnt simpleIf youre not familiar with network-attached storage (NAS), think of it as cloud storage, but specifically for your home. A NAS device connects to your home network, and your Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even Windows PCs and Android devices can access it whenever necessary. A NAS device is a good way to store files that need to be accessed by several devices or users, or it can be a way for individual users to move files from a device to free up space.Because the NAS device connects to a network, the setup isnt as simple as plug-and-play, but its not too difficult. Once its up and running, you can access it either through the Network menu in the Finder, or through an app, browser, or both. Some NAS devices can provide access when youre away from home, but this may require using a paid service from the devices company.NAS devices range from ones with fixed hard drives starting at 2TB for $150/150 to drives with multiple removable hard drives with capacities over 8TB and other features for several hundreds of dollars. Check out our picks for the best NAS drive for Mac if youre interested.Cloud storageScreenshotFoundryProsAccessible anywhere there is internet accessMost services are not platform-specificConsFee-based serviceInternet access requiredSpeeds affected by internet connectionCloud storage is provided by a service online for a fee, usually a subscription. Apple offers iCloud, which includes iCloud Drive along with other services. Other popular cloud storage providers include Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Box. Learn more about the best cloud storage services for the Mac.Whats great about cloud storage is that it is accessible by almost any device that has an internet connection. But because your ability to access it is reliant on the internet, cloud storage shouldnt be used as primary storage. Its good for storing files you want to access but not ones you use frequently, things like backups, photo and video storage, and file transfers. But its a great way to free up space on your Macs drive.Also, since you have to pay a recurring fee, youll need to figure out how the cost benefits you. Many services have a free tier with a small allocation of storage; for example, iCloud Drive offers 5GB free. That limits what you can do.Mac mini and Mac Studio SSD upgradesPolysoftProsInternal storage optionConsComplicated installationMay void the Mac warrantyThe M4 Mac mini and the Mac Studio have internal SSDs that are installed in slots, which makes them upgradeable but Apple doesnt officially support upgrades after purchase by the company, a third party, or by do-it-yourselfers. Some small companies have released SSD upgrade kits, such as Expand Mac mini and PolySoft Services with video instructions on their websites.The installations for these kits arent trivial but if your mechanical aptitude is limited, you should be able to do this. There is a risk of damaging your Mac and this installation could void your warranty, especially if there is obvious evidence of your work.If you have an M2 Mac mini there are other ways to upgrade its memory. Learn more.

The Apple Health app could offer AI-based coaching to users in a similar way to a real doctor, with food tracking also likely to be a big feature in a future app update.Apple Health iconThe Health app is used as a central store for a user's health metrics. Compiling together data collected from hardware like the Apple Watch and from its own sensors to give users an overall view of their fitness and health.While the current app can identify and notify on trends and other insights, a future version of the app could offer a lot more help. Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence. Rumor Score: Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums